1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to off-road recreational vehicles and more particularly pertains to a new system for converting a recreational vehicle that permits the temporary transformation of a snowmobile into a wheeled vehicle capable of being safely operated off of snow on dry surfaces in warmer conditions, and without compromising the handling characteristics of the converted vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Off-road recreational vehicles, such as snowmobiles and four wheel all-terrain vehicles, are highly popular for recreational use, and growing in popularity. Unfortunately, the use of these different types of recreational vehicles tends to be restricted to different seasons of the year, during which only one of these types of recreational vehicles can normally and safely be used, and thus the other types of vehicle cannot be used and must be stored. Thus, those persons who enjoy such riding must obtain vehicles of both types in order to be able enjoy riding year round.
A number of different apparatus have been proposed to permit user to convert different types of recreational vehicles into other types of vehicles, and a number of these apparatus have been proposed to convert snowmobiles into wheeled vehicle. However, the known proposals would appear to produce vehicles that may have compromised handling characteristics that are quite unlike the handling characteristics of the original snowmobile because the suspension is compromised and the height of the center of gravity increased, and that may not readily permit the conversion of the wheeled vehicle back into a snowmobile because they are not readily adapted to the conventional snowmobile structures
It is thus believed that there is a need in the art for a system for converting a recreational vehicle such as a snowmobile into a wheeled vehicle with desirable and safe handling characteristics that does not require significant alteration of the existing snowmobile and that may permit the converted wheeled vehicle to be converted back into the snowmobile.